■ 



■ I 



tm 










ma ;*;h H H 



■I 

■ ■ 

■ ■ 
■ ^1 






LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




QDDDET^SbA 



■ ■ 
■ 

■ ■ 
■ 

■ ■ 

■ 

■ 

I 4 I 






V J? 



WJ ~* ^ * 



^ *A N< 



* • o. 






• ♦ * 



#" *\ 






.* v -v 









♦* >_ c° -•!!.••- r o 



* ^ 



* M O 




**^ c& 



V <£* •*« V* ^ A* 



O , A 



■ • 



&. ^ « •> 






• # ■» 



f. ^ ^ ♦! 



.4* »wai'- % c° ,-« 



I 9 **» 



•>i> •c*^' 









■ao 1 



*bV* 









$» • 






*♦ ^O 










«.* %*» 



1 * o 



v^v 




*.°v 







• 1 1 



*- .! 




: J*+. • 






"bv* 




0^ c°JL**. ^b. ^ .."_*♦ 








-1 i^k 








A FARM IN PICARDY 



A FARM IN PICARDY 



BY 

DORA NELSON 




THE CORNHILL COMPANY 

BOSTON 



vs* 1 






Copyright, 1919 

by 

THE CORNHILL, COMPANY 



©CI.A535910 

NOV *S 1919 



DEDICATED 

TO THOSE WHO FELL 

IN THE GREAT WAR 



CONTENTS 

Page 

The Ultimate Gain i 

A Farm in Picardy 2 

His Mother 3 

Somewhere In France He Sleeps Today . . 4 

The Air Raider 6 

The Red Cross Nurse 7 

The Singer 8 

The Cross 9 

The Battle of the Aviators 10 

The Red Cross 11 

The Cumberland Mother 12 

Edith Cavell 15 

The Brothers 16 

The Defense of Mt. Kemmel 19 

The War Bride 21 

The Indictment 23 

The Bolsheviki 24 

War 25 

Easter, 1918 26 

In Lighter Vein 29 

The Rookie 31 

My Work . , 32 

Little Pet Chicken 33 

No Wonder It Was Cold 35 

Home On Furlough 36 



CONTENTS 

Page 

Maiden Musings 37 

Peasant Girl and Aviator 39 

The Ambulance Driver 40 

Baynicks 41 

The Storm 42 

The Glory of Man 44 

The Day 47 



A FARM IN PICARDY 



THE ULTIMATE GAIN 

If universal brotherhood 

We ultimately gain, 
No drop of all this sea of blood 

Shall have been shed in vain. 



[i] 



A FARM IN PICARDY 



A FARM IN PICARDY 

Oft times when the grapes grew purple 
In the warmth of the setting sun, 

I have sat with my loved ones round me, 
When the long day's toil was done. 

My boy and my girl were dearer 
Than children might ever be, 

And my soul was filled with gladness 
To hear their childish glee. 

My wife was the sweetest woman 
That ever the good God gave 

To bless the heart of a husband, 
And make him strong and brave. 

The Bodies came down from the north ; 

The English came from the sea; 
And my farm was caught between them, 

And it crushed my farm — and me. 



[2] 



A FARM IN PICARDY 



HIS MOTHER 

The neighbor with a voice that broke, 

While tears stole down each cheek, 
Endeavored in her homely way, 

A word of cheer to speak. 
But his mother bravely said, 

Her eyes without a tear, 
"My boy's life is not ended, 

Though his work is ended here. 
His country claimed his service, 

He was a soldier true, 
And I who am his mother 

Must be a soldier, too." 



[3] 



A FARM IN PICARDY 



SOMEWHERE IN FRANCE HE SLEEPS 

TODAY 

The purple shadows dim the hills, 

The sun flames home at last, 
The cows come lowing to the bars, 

And twilight follows fast; 
The old dog stands upon the step, 

And looks adown the lane, 
And harks to hear the master's voice 

He ne'er shall hear again. 
That faithful beast cannot conceive 

Our weight of crushing woe. 
Somewhere in France he sleeps today, 

The boy we used to know. 

Within the old colonial home 

Each head is bowed in grief, 
While once again the father reads 

That message sad and brief 
That tells how bravely he has died, 

Our own dear brown-eyed lad, 
In trench retaken from the foe 

Upon the other side. 
The old clock ticks upon the wall 

With measured beat and slow : 
Somewhere in France he sleeps today, 

The boy we used to know. 

[4] 



A FARM IN PICARDY 

The children seek their several rooms, 

Their childish tears soon dried; 
The father lays him down to sleep 

In mingled grief and pride. 
The mother takes the nightlamp up, 

And mounts the winding stair, 
To seek the little, low-eaved room, 

Where treasured mem'ries are. 
No hearts so true as mother hearts. 

I wonder why 'tis so? 
Somewhere in France he sleeps today, 
The boy we used to know. 

She sets the lamp upon the stand, 

And fondles o'er and o'er 
Each object that is all that's left 

To her of him she bore, 
And letters written mid the rush 

Of screaming shot and shell 
And all that dread machinery 

That makes this war such hell. 
Oh, aching heart that cannot break 

While long years come and go ! 
Somewhere in France he sleeps today, 

The boy we used to know. 



[5] 



A FARM IN PICARDY 



THE AIR RAIDER 

Two little children playing on the grass, 
One a brown-haired little boy, one a gold-haired lass ; 
Motor purring overhead, then a whining sound, 
Then two mangled little forms dead upon the ground. 



[6] 



A FARM IN PICARDY 



THE RED CROSS NURSE 

They brought him from the trenches stark and cold, 
My love who was so noble, brave and bold, 
The man for whom I came across the sea, 
My love who was the whole wide world to me. 

Oh, loving arms that never more shall press ! 
Oh, heart that faster beat at my caress! 
Oh, lips that never failed to smile before ! 
Oh, lovelit eyes that I shall see no more! 

The apple trees were white when he was killed, 
And all the balmy air their fragrance filled, 
And he was laid where their bent boughs could shed 
Their wealth of snowy petals o'er his head. 

A year has come and gone upon its way, 
And I am working still as on that day, 
And keeping a smiling face and cheerful air, 
And tend the broken bodies in my care. 

And now the trees are white with bloom again, 
And in my heart the old regret and pain, 
I go apart and weep to find relief. 
Oh, God ! Oh, God ! my soul is dead with grief ! 



[7] 



A FARM IN PICARDY 



THE SINGER 

A tall, slim strip of a fellow, 
About twenty three, I guess, 

The quiet kind, but I liked him better 
Than any man in our mess. 

No different from hundreds of others, 

As far as I can tell, 
Except that he had a voice as clear 

And sweet as a silver bell. 

We bucked the old Hindenburg line, 

Every last one of us all, — 
Ran into a nest of machine guns, 

And Don was the first to fall. 

We laid him on a stretcher 

Made of blankets and rough-cut poles, 
And carried him back two miles, 

Over ground full of ruts and holes. 

But never a moan he uttered, 

Never an impatient word, 
But he sang every step of the way, 

And such singing I never heard! 



[8] 



A FARM IN PICARDY 



THE CROSS 

A Frenchman and a German 

Lay dying on the field, 
And that they both were of one faith, 

Was in that hour revealed. 
The Frenchman kissed a crucifix, 

Then passed it to the other. 
"We've fought as foes — let's die as friends, 

Now kiss the cross, my brother." 
The dying German kissed the cross, 

And then, without a groan, 
But with a murmured prayer, each passed 

Into the Great Unknown. 



[9] 



A FARM IN PICARDY 



THE BATTLE OF THE AVIATORS 

Oh, I have lain in tall, lush grass, 

Where scarlet poppies grew, 
And looked up to the bright blue sky, 

Where white clouds flecked the blue; 
And I have seen two giant planes 

Like great birds poised in air, 
Great birds of war, and each one strove 

To kill the other there; 
And I have watched them circle close, 

And dip and dart and veer ; 
And streams of flaming fire would light 

Their wings as they drew near 
And, locked in combat each would deal 

His foe a mortal wound, 
Then both would plunge a mass of flame 

And wreckage to the ground. 



[10] 



A FARM IN PICARDY 



THE RED CROSS 

Merciful hands that lift and save; 
Or friends, or foes, 
Where'er the Red Cross goes 

There's help and healing for the brave. 



[«] 



A FARM IN PICARDY 



THE CUMBERLAND MOTHER 

In the doorway of a cabin, 

On a lonely mountain height, 
A woman stood one eve as day 

Was changing into night. 
Her face was seamed by many a line 

Drawn there by grief and care, 
Her back was bowed by years of toil, 

And white as snow her hair. 

Blood-red was all the western sky, 

And blood-red all the plain, 
The pines stood out as etched in blood, 

Reflected back again. 
To her who looked it seemed as though 

The blood of all the dead 
Who died in war since war began 

Was in that scene outspread. 

She turned away and closed the door 

To shut out the dread sight, 
And breathed a prayer : "Oh, God, take care 

Of my dear boy tonight." 
She laid herself upon her bed, 

At length her eyelids closed 
In sleep, but soon a dread dream come 

To break her calm repose. 

[12] 



A FARM IN PICARDY 

She dreamed she saw a phantom host 

Of soldiers, row on row, 
Come marching up the long hill road 

With measured step and slow, 
To pause beside her cabin door, 

And set a stretcher down 
On which there lay a stark, dead form 

In soldier suit of brown. 

"What's that?" she cried, and yet she knew 

Before the answer came: 
"One you know well," the leader said, 

And spoke a well-known name. 
She woke and found it all a dream. 

She did not wail or weep. 
And thrice that night the dread dream came 

To break her fitful sleep. 

When morning came she went about 

Her usual toilsome ways ; 
She milked the cow, let down the bars, 

And left the beast to graze. 
She strained the milk, and set the pans 

In rows beside the door ; 
Tidied the hearth, made up her bed, 

And swept the puncheon floor. 

Her trembling hand drew out her wheel, 
She set herself to spin 

[13] 



A FARM IN PICARDY 

The wool from mountain sheep in lengths 

So strong and true and thin ; 
And as she worked, a messenger 

Rode swiftly to her door, 
Knocked loudly, opened, and handed her 

A telegram he bore. 

"Oh, sir," she cried, "I cannot read — " 

I never l'arned to read — 
Since you are hyar, please read to me, 

Kind sir, you know my need." 
He took the letter from her hand 

And read as best he could : 
"Your son was killed the twenty-fourth — 

He died as brave men should." 

She did not weep as women weep, 

When stricken to the heart, 
She made no moan, from those dim eyes 

No scalding tears did start. 
"It is God's will. God's will be done." 

She bowed her old gray head. 
Then prone she fell upon the floor, 

The mother, too, was dead. 



[Mi 



A FARM IN PICARDY 



EDITH CAVELL 

Tis only to the privileged few 
Deephearted daughters of the Race of Man 
Is granted grace of martyrdom. 
To you, pure spirit, 'tis given to stand 
Beside the wondrous Maid of France, 
Supreme in womanhood, supreme in sacrifice. 



[15] 



A FARM IN PICARDY 



THE BROTHERS 

Men of all countries and climes were we, 
Gathered to fight for democracy; 
And I was one of them, even I, 
With a soul to do and a will to die, 
I, who came from a noble line, 
And a castle old beside the Rhine. 
I lay on my bunk and harked to the rain, 
And the wind that wailed like a soul in pain, 
And heard repeated o'er and o'er 
The never ceasing battle's roar, 
And into my dulled brain came a gleam 
Of the past, like a half-remembered dream. 
I remembered the room where we were born, 
My brother and I, the selfsame morn, 
Yet I was the younger son, and he, 
The elder, and heir to the barony. 
I recalled my father, a handsome man, 
With reckless eyes and cheeks of tan; 
I remembered my mother all others above, 
Whose poor heart broke when she lost his love, 
For a heart may break though the body lives on, 
And life be a torture when love is gone ; 
And the fair, false woman, with eyes of flame, 
Who sullied our ancient and honored name; 
I remembered my brother's parting sigh, 
And the woodland glade where we said goodbye; 

[16] 



A FARM IN PICARDY 

The day mother came with me over the sea 

To America, land of liberty. 

And I loved that land, and, burning with zeal, 

Joined in the fight for the commonweal. 

And now I awaited the hour to go 

To plant a mine beneath the foe; 

For thus had come the order stern: 

"You shall go: — but not return." 

Why does this blackness over me roll? 

What is this thing that shakes my soul? 

No fear. I'm no coward — if wounds can speak — 

No craven — bears witness this scar on my cheek. 

I'll forget the past! I must away! 

The mine shall be planted ere break of day. 

There's a place where no living thing can stand 

And live, 'twixt the armies, called No Man's Land; 

'Tis shelltorn and strown with dead men's bones; 

And the air resounds with dying groans, 

Where the dead and wounded lie in heaps 

Till the ambulance so softly creeps, 

Sorting them out ere it be too late, 

And bears away the mangled freight. 

And into the scene of horror and pain 

I crept on my knees in the dark and rain. 

Now suddenly out of the blackness before me 

I heard a sound, and a shudder went o'er me. 

And I thought : " 'Tis a foe with a like intent, 

On a similar errand as I am bent." 

I heard liim gasp as he gripped his gun; 

[17] 



A FARM IN PICARDY 

But I was the swifter — the deed was done; 

And I felt the sweat on my forehead start 

As my steel pierced through and reached his heart. 

Then over our heads a starshell broke 

In a flicker of blue and greenish smoke, 

Then burned for an instant with steady flame; 

And from the lips of the dying came 

A spoken word — "Wilhelm!" I looked on a face 

I recognized, full of manly grace. 

"My brother!" I cried, "that this should be! 

"My brother. Would I had died for thee !" 

"Mein lieber bruder! ,, his pale lips said: 

Then the end came swiftly — and he was dead. 

I pressed my lips to his forehead fair, 

And rushed from the spot in wild despair. 

The men over there were my brothers all, 

Yet I must respond to duty's call. 

I planted the mine, but ere I could light 

The fuse in my hand a starbomb bright 

Burst over the scene, and a bullet sped 

And left me wounded and wellnigh dead; 

And here I lie in a prison cell 

And wait for death — and it is well. 

My brother ! Our mother shall never know 

That mine was the hand that laid him low. 



[18] 



A FARM IN PICARDY 



THE DEFENSE OF MT. KEMMEL 

When the first streaks of the early dawn paint all the 

east with rose, 
The English retire and leave the French to face the 

advancing foes. 

For at any cost the channel ports must be saved to 

the Allies , cause, 
And the French who are left are depended on to make 

the foemen pause. 

Strong of heart but in numbers few, they know there 

is scarce a chance 
That a man may live, but what better death than to 

die for France — for France! 

Up the hill in the morning light come the Huns in a 

rushing wave, 
And for every man the charge shall end in a three by 

six foot grave. 

Another wave, and the ground is piled with dying and 

with dead; 
Another and another breaks — the slope is a river 

of red. 

[19] 



A FARM IN PICARDY 

The brave defenders hold the hill the while their ranks 

grow thin; 
The day is done, the end is near, the charging Huns 

must win. 

The parapet is knocked to bits; the dugouts smashed 

and gone; 
Not all are dead — a few are left — and still the fight 

goes on. 

Till, uncontested, unopposed on sweep the victorious 

Huns, 
For all the brave and noble French lie dead beside 

their guns. 



[20] 



A FARM IN PICARDY 



THE WAR BRIDE 

The stars shone clear that summer night, 

A pale moon rode the sky, 
As up the village street we walked, 

My soldier love and I. 
We passed the turn and half way up 

We left the traveled way, 
Passed through the graveyard where the dead 

In silence round us lay. 

Climbed higher still until at length 

We stood upon the hill, 
And paused to hear the nighthawk's cry, 

The mournful whippoorwill. 
We saw the glowworm on the grass, 

The firefly on the wing, 
And heard the call that Nature gives 

To every living thing. 

My husband put out his strong arms 

And drew me to his breast; 
My throbbing heart against his heart 

Could ask no other rest. 
I only know that I loved him, 

And I know he loved me, 
And he, my love, was soon to go 

To fight across the sea. 
***** 

[21] 



A FARM IN PICARDY 

They made his grave in lands afar, 

Across the miles of foam, 
With a hero's medal on his breast — 

And I am here at home 
An honored grave for my true love, 

Long years of grief for me, 
And the child that on my bosom lies — 

Love's immortality. 



[22] 



A FARM IN PICARDY 



THE INDICTMENT 

The best and bravest of your race 
Go forth at despot's will, 

To settle all things by the sword, 
And know no way but kill. 



[23] 



A FARM IN PICARDY 



THE BOLSHEVIKI 

A dream of justice and brotherhood 
In a world gone mad with greed and blood; 
A dream and a hope; yet there is no power 
Can change the world in a single hour; 
But slow and sure as the mighty tide 
The New order riseth far and wide. 



[24] 



A FARM IN PICARDY 



WAR 

War wastes the labor of our hands ; 

It lays a burden sore 
Of debt on all, but doubly on 

The unresisting poor; 
Our mothers weep, our widows wail, 

Our unfathered children cry; 
Our harvests fail, stark famine comes, 

We wither, fade and die. 



[25] 



A FARM IN PICARDY 



EASTER, 1918 

Nineteen eighteen, on Easter morn, 

The people go about 
With faces drawn by grief and care, 

And minds oppressed by doubt. 

Hushed is the careless laughter, 

Gone the Parisian smiles. 
They fear the gun, the super gun, 

That shoots a hundred miles. 

They pass into the churches, 
And there they kneel and pray 

To God to help them save their homes, 
And drive the Huns away. 

Within the church of Saint Gervaise, 
There hangs a sacred shape 

Of Christ upon a cross, at which 
The kneeling hundreds gape. 

And far above the kneeling throng, 
Beneath His thorned crown, 

The strange, sad image of the Christ 
Looks sadly, dumbly down. 

[26] 



A FARM IN PICARDY 

The people listen to the mass, 

So solemn, deep and slow, 
Those Latin words whose meaning few 

There know, or care to know. 

But high above the intoned mass, 

And o'er the music's swell, 
They hear at intervals the sound 

Of an exploding shell. 

What though the burning incense 
The peoples' sense beguiles? 

They cannot quite forget the gun 
That shoots a hundred miles. 

They lift their eyes and gaze upon 

The form upon the tree, 
And breathe a prayer : "Oh, save us now, 

Our Lord, we pray to thee." 

Now, swiftly from the sky there falls 

A shell, and strikes amain 
The church, and through the kneeling 
throng 

Exploding, makes a lane. 

But high above the awful din, 
Beneath His thorned crown, 

[27] 



A FARM IN PICARDY 

The image of the pitying Christ 
Looks sadly, dumbly down. 

Though Christ seems dumb, and wrong 
prevail 

And innocence is slain ; 
Still shines the sun above the world, 

And right shall some day reign. 



[28] 



IN LIGHTER VEIN 



[29] 



THE ROOKIE 

I'm sorry for the married men; 

I pity all good fellows, 
Who have to stay and slave all day 

At workbench, forge and bellows; 
Who plow and sow and reap and mow, 

As days grow dull and duller, 
While I can go where bugles blow, 

And life is full of color. 
Let slackers stay at home and play 

At games of golf and hockey, 
For me it's fun to pack a gun 

And march with the boys in khaki. 



[31] 



A FARM IN PICARDY 



MY WORK 

It may be I shall never reach 

The heights and depths of song, 

But I shall write no word of hate 
For anything but wrong. 



[32] 



A FARM IN PICARDY 



LITTLE PET CHICKEN 

Went to a house in Belgium; 

Folks all dead — place on the bum — 

All on account of a bloomin' shell; 

I tell yah war is jest plain hell. 

There was a gal about fourteen year; 

To think of her now it brings a tear; 

An' right atop of her shinin' hair 

A little pet chicken a-nestlin' there. 

We tuck 'im back to make us a fry, 

When somebuddy said: "Don't kill 'im, le's try 

To feed an' keep 'im an' make 'im our pet." 

An' that's jest what we done, you bet! 

That dern little chicken, ef you'll b'lieve me, 

Jest loved a fight the same as we ; 

Follyed us everywhere, ev'ry minute; 

Wasn't a scrap that he wasn't in it; 

Tell one foggy day we'd been plantin' mines, 

An' got way inter the inemy's lines, 

An' started back, we heard a squawk 

Like a chicken makes when it sees a hawk; 

An' there on the ground was a red hot wire, 

A snaky line o' livin' fire. 

Burned to a crisp was our little pet chicken! 

Think of it now an' it makes me sicken. 

[33] 



A FARM IN PICARDY 

We flattened out an' the bullets went over, 

The current went off an' we crawled back to cover. 

An* some of us cussed an' a few of us cried 

When we thought how our little pet chicken died. 



[34] 



A FARM IN PICARDY 



NO WONDER IT WAS COLD 

A Yankee soldier went into 
A gay Paris cafe, 

And gave his order for a cup 
Of hot cafe au lait. 

"I want it hot— let it be hot- 
As hot as hell," he said. 

But when that cup of coffee came 
Twas cold as the two day dead. 

He told the waiter what he thought, 
And told it plainly, too. 

"What can you axpec'," the waiter said, 
"When it waited three years for you." 



[35] 



A FARM IN PICARDY 



HOME ON FURLOUGH 

The hours as moments swiftly fly, 
On wings the fleetest of the fleet, 

And time and earth are known no more, 
When we two meet. 

Ah, what care we for paradise, 
For pearly gates or golden street? 

Tis nearer, dearer paradise, 
When we two meet. 



[36] 



A FARM IN PICARDY 



MAIDEN MUSINGS 

'Twas dusky down there by the gate; 

And it was late — oh awful late — 

Most half past nine — but Ed and I 

Just couldn't bear to say good-bye 

Until I said I'd have to go ; 

Then Ed reached out and took me — so — 

And if I live a hundred years, 

Of mingled joy and grief and tears, 

I won't forget the exquisite bliss 

And rapture of that last long kiss. 

And then he asked me if I would 

Wait for him. And I said I should. 

It's been a month since Ed was here ; 
To me it seems just like a year; 
I've not been to a place I know, 
Not even to a picture show. 
I'll wait for Ed till he comes back; 
And if he's killed, I'll put on black. 
But ma says I've no cause to fret, 
Seeing I'm not wife or widow yet. 
But ma don't know how bad I feel, 
Even if I never miss a meal, 
For I, although I sorely grieve 
Don't wear my feelings on my sleeve. 

[37] 



A FARM IN PICARDY 

Today, when all my tasks were done, 

I went and stood out in the sun, 

And thought of Ed away so far, 

Fred Jones came by in his new car. 

I used to think a lot of Fred, 

Before I fell in love with Ed. 

And Fred asked me to go to ride, 

And so I hopped in by his side. 

Fred said he felt bad as could be 

When he was put in "deferred D", 

But says he's joined the Home Guards now 

Seeing he couldn't get in the big row. 

Fred showed me where he's bought a lot, 

In just the very prettiest spot; 

And said in tones so soft and low, 

He's going to build a bungalow, 

If just one girl will only share 

The pretty home he'll have up there. 

A soldier's pay is awful small — 

It's hardly anything at all. 

And yet — and yet — Ed's dear brown eyes, 

His handsome face, and loving sighs — 

Oh dear, I don't know what to do! 

I wish this darned old war was through! 



[38] 



A FARM IN PICARDY 



PEASANT GIRL AND AVIATOR 

At times upon my raptured sight, 

There shines a vision wondrous bright; 

Far up the blue in ether high 

Your sunlit wings against the sky. 

And I must walk through valleys low. 

Ah, well, 'tis best that it is so — 

You do not know, dear heart, will never know. 



[39] 



A FARM IN PICARDY 

THE AMBULANCE DRIVER 
Suggested by a cartoon by Fontaine Fox. 

I've had my little ups and downs, 

An' taken many a chance, 
In No Man's Land in the mud an' dark, 

Drivin' a ambulance; 
But the thing that made me r'ar an' cuss, 

An* crack the golden rule, 
Was tryin' to fit a gas mask on 

A ol' Missouri mule ! 



[40] 



A FARM IN PICARDY 

BAYNICKS * 

Suggested by a cartoon by Bairnsfather. 

One night out on a bit of a lark, 
Belly-crawlin' around in the dark, 
Baynicks p'inted an' finger on trigger, 
We cut a partic'ler ridic'lous figger, 
Me an' Bill Jones, a irascible chap, 
The beatin'est feller to snarl an' snap, 
An' jest as we started down the line, 
Bill in front and me behine, 
Why in hell," says Bill, ugly as sin, 

"Don'cha put a button on that bloomin' pin ! n 

•Bayonets 



[41] 



A FARM IN PICARDY 



THE STORM 

Today I walk through autumn woods, 
With heart oppressed by fear, 

Mid gusts and mists and dripping boughs, 
Wind driven, wild and drear. 

Like blood drops on the miry clay 

Red leaves fall one by one — 
My thoughts go wandering far afield — 

Oh, red mud of Verdun ! 

The thunder rolls from mount to mount, 

Repeated, crash on crash, 
From out that dark and bending cloud 

Red streaks of lightning flash. 

'Tis like the roar from great guns' throats 

As shells go hurtling by — 
The rattling rush of maxim notes — 

As men go forth to die. 

But lo ! far o'er the mountain's crest, 

The sun breaks clear at last, 
The whole world seems to smile with joy, 

To know the storm has past. 

[42] 



A FARM IN PICARDY 

That shining sun gives omen of 

A coming, glorious day, 
When men shall never more go forth 

In droves to maim and slay. 



[43] 



A FARM IN PICARDY 



THE GLORY OF MAN 

In the slime of the ooze primeval, 

A creature was spawned one day, 
That differed from its fellows, 

In a slight but peculiar way, 
And it swelled with a vast importance, 

And carried a haughty mein, 
And this was Man's first beginning 

In the early Eocene. 

Now in course of time this creature 

Passed on, but before it died, 
It sired a billion descendants, 

That swam in the shallow tide, 
Till one day one of the swimmers, 

Swam out on the hot sea sand, 
Developed an embryonic lung, 

And lived thereafter on land. 

A hundred million years passed by, 

And a changing creature ranged 
Through tangled jungle and forest, 

And ever and ever changed. 
And at length a cannibal chief 

With his braves sat under a tree, 
Waiting the feast, and laughed aloud 

In anticipation to see 

[44] 



A FARM IN PICARDY 

The women roasting the corpses 

Slain that day in the fight, 
By wrapping them with grape leaves 

And then with a covering light 
Of clay mixed with sand and water, 

And placing on white heated stones 
Made hot by volcanic fires, 

Till the meat cleaved off the bones. 

And when the grim feast was ready, 

They all squatted down on the ground 
While they carved up the roasted corpses 

And passed choice morsels around. 
"My children," the great chief said, 

"Incredible as it may seem, 
There was a time many years ago, 

Though it now seems like a dream, 

When Man was a poor tame creature 

Subsisting on nuts and fruit, 
And he sometimes ate of herbage, 

Just like a dumb-witted brute, 
And knew not the feeling of comfort 

That comes as our stomachs fill 
With the tasty meat, the good red meat 

That makes us strong to kill." 

* * * * * 
[45] 



A FARM IN PICARDY 

Some day shall come a Superman 

As far from the savage chief. 
As the chief from the creature that lived 

On the paleozoic reef. 
For this is the glory of Man, 

His striving to reach a goal 
That lies in the far, dim distance, 

Progressing from sense to soul. 



[46] 



A FARM IN PICARDY 



THE DAY 

The word goes forth and then the cry is War! War! 

War! 
And everywhere is heard the tramp of marching feet. 
The German host, halted for a little at Liege, goes on 
To break in gray-green waves against the French and 

English. 
There are months of waiting; then mothers weeping 

for slain sons, 
Mourning widows, the wailing cry of children bereaved. 
Then trenches, terrible, terrible trenches, rain and mud ; 
Barbed wire entanglements; bombing planes, battle 

planes; submarines; tanks, mechanical 
Trilobites, spitting destruction 
Liquid fire; the horrible gas; ruined cities; forests 

destroyed ; 
Harvests, the toil of patient hands, trodden under foot; 

landmarks 
Wiped out by the explosion of mighty shells from the 

great guns 
That never cease to roar nor night nor day. Now the 

Russian Revolution, 
And from the darkness of ages the Russian people 

begin to emerge. 
Time goes on and America enters the war and slowly 

the Germans begin 

[47] 



A FARM IN PICARDY 

To retreat but fighting stubbornly every inch of the 

way. 
The whole world is in mourning. There is death, 

death everywhere, 
On land, overhead, on the sea, and the red blood of 

earth's best and 
Bravest poured out like water. 
The word goes forth, the guns cease, there is silence, 

silence 
Utter and complete. Men listen scarce daring to 

breathe, like scared 
Rabbits they creep from the trenches into that dread 

place No Man's Land. 
Now from both sides they come, and the cry is 

Kamerad ! Brother ! 
And lo ! hatred ends and there is brotherhood ! 
The waves of ether bear the word and from each home 

and hamlet, 
From every town and city the people come, they flock 

into the roads, 
Into the streets — who would stay in the house a day 

like this! — and 
There is glad shouting and parading. Whistles blow, 

bells ring. 
Every sort of vehicle, automobiles, wagons, carts, is 

brought into service. 
There are women with softly-powered faces, white 

handed, in silken attire; 

[48] 



1? H 



A FARM IN PICARDY 

Men from the shops, grimy- faced; girls from the 

munition works, in 
Overalls, sleeves rolled up, bare of head ; children from 

the schools, 
With flags; everywhere the people are singing and 

shouting Peace! Peace! 
Old wrongs are forgotten; people who have been at 

enmity for years 
Greet each other and wish each other well. In the 

universal joy 
Men dream of a great world-state wherein no war 

shall be. 
In the eyes of all are smiles, but behind the smiles, 

tears. 
And oh, it is good, it is good, it is GOOD to live this 

day! 



[49] 






a°* 





o V 



P-^i 




^d* 









*<?* 



o • » 



*oV* 










# ^ 









* ^y & • _«» « +^* v Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process 

* • • • - -0 ^ • • » V> * Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 

i*. „CT - • k ' * 4 ^^ .Ay © e A* 4^ Treatment Date: Oct. 2009 




*^ 





PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN COLLECTIONS PRESERVATION 
111 Thomson Park Drive 
^V +^HCclr**% Cranberry Township, PA 16066 

*7ti * • . \ • (724)779-2111 



A* '" 




*?* A> - - - <, 



"fev* 



' • ■ o 







4? .VWaN ^ a* * 



©• • - 



WERT %£ 
)KBINDING 
Grantville. Pa 

Nov. -Dec. 1988 

^*e>*.Oual«v Soonc 



*«<J25W- ° .ij 




• ••• *° V 






^ 




-fr~ 



• it 




■ 0' V •77,.'. ^ -o '.. 










■ 
H 

■ 



